Improving our Driver Support

Today, we are improving and expanding our mentor program to offer more support for Lyft drivers.

When we launched driver mentoring in 2013, we immediately got positive feedback from driver applicants. They loved being able to sit down with an experienced driver to ask questions and get tips on driving. What better way to learn than with someone who knows the ropes?

We also realized how important driver mentors would be to grow Lyft across the country. In fact, in the first six months we nearly tripled the total number of US drivers in large part because of our mentor program.

Today, we are expanding our driver mentor program with new improvements and more local support. These changes will get drivers qualified and on the road faster so passengers can continue to rely on affordable, reliable Lyft rides.

Mentoring 2.0: mobile mentoring

One of the things we heard from driver applicants was that coordinating a Welcome Ride was harder than it needed to be. It was slowing them down. So we fixed that. Now applicants can schedule a Welcome Ride quickly and easily right from the Lyft app. This means they can connect with a Mentor faster and get started driving — and earning money — sooner.

We tested these new features over the last few months and found that we were able to decrease the cost of getting drivers successfully onboard. We were also able to increase the number of drivers we activated. A win-win!

Making an impact in our cities

The last year has been one of incredible growth for us — five times growth in the number of rides and revenue in 2014. As we continue to grow, we have an opportunity to invest more in the communities where we operate by serving the unique needs of drivers and passengers.

Because of this, we are hiring general managers in key cities. This local support system will help us scale faster while ensuring the best possible experience during each and every Lyft ride.

On the ground, general managers will help drivers with local insights, hyper-local support, and will be a direct touchpoint to Lyft headquarters. For passengers, this will translate into lower average ETAs, more availability, and local promotions that fit their specific area. Ultimately, this will help us continue to grow in the ways that make a Lyft ride fast, reliable, and safe.

These improvements will drive significant progress on our mission to reconnect people and communities through better transportation. Thanks for coming along on the ride with us!